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I bought this generator from a guy that said he removed it from a local school as part of an upgrade. It had low hours (low hundreds), and appeared to be in a very good shape. I believe it was there to keep the lights on in case of a blackout, and they were upgrading with generators that could provide enough juice for AC as well.

Can one tell if this is an LP or Nat Gas unit (i thought the only difference should be the regulator)

It has a cut 1.5" pipe for the gas. It have a good battery for it.

I'd like to attach it to a 40lb tank and get it started before I invest into bigger LP tanks.

What regulator do I need in between? What should my next steps be in order to get it tested?

Provide 11" water column to this unit. The demand regulator is upside down, this is how an LP unit is normally set up, check the demand regulator and make sure the spring is removed. It is under the white plastic adjusting screw/cap, which in turn is in the demand regulator tower under the aluminum cap.

The demand regulator is to the left of the fuel flex line. Check fluid levels, visually check engine for any obvious problems. Whoever cut the fuel line probably was not careful with the ac output wires. Make sure the ac output wires are safe, wire nuts or tape is good. Units this age frequently need cooling system service, check water pump for looseness, check belts, check battery cables for tightness,corrosion, check immediately. For oil pressure on startup, watch for leaks, check ac voltage, frequency, be ready to shut it down immediately if you see a problem.

Most ES units could also run on gasoline. I just worked on one. Post a photo of the block same side as carb. Don't worry about that wire. It is only for a test. You don't need it I agree on checking the wires. When they removed the one I worked on. They just used a cutter and cut the wires while they were still powered up on the DC side. I would also remove the fan guard and trim it up. To give the fan a little more room. If not set down flat. The blade tips can hit the guard.

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I don't talk to myself. This early in the morning. Why the hell should I talk to you.

Sounds like the generator output is not wired correctly if you are wanting 120/240 single phase. Open up the junction box on the side of the gen-end & see how the leads are connected in comparison to the wiring diagram that should be printed on the back of the cover.

Go to the Gov control and readjust the Gain setting. If it is wired for 3 phase and you are trying to read. On the single phase meter scale you will get odd readings. The Gain control will settle the gov down.

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I don't talk to myself. This early in the morning. Why the hell should I talk to you.

I did have a question about 'wiring' (i understand we should get the RPMs stable first)
Does this unit require re-wiring? I thought the purpose of the switch on the picture is to replace having to 'rewire'

In post #10, the three wires hanging down with yellow/red wirenuts are color coded Brown, Yellow and Orange. This is the typical color coding system for the phase conductors in a 277/480 volt system. There is probably a fourth wire that is color coded white or gray. It will be the neutral conductor. That may be the large wire laying in the bottom that is capped with a yellow/red wirenut. According to the nameplate, the generator will produce 30 amps @ 480 volts. The brown, yellow and orange wires look like #10 AWG, which is rated for 30 amps. What is the amperage rating of the output circuit breaker? if it is 30-40 amps, I suspect the generator was set up for 277/480 volt operation. If it was wired for 120/208 volts, the output would be 69 amps, so it would probably have a 70-80 amp circuit breaker. The single phase rating on this unit is 13kW, which will be 54 amps at 120/240 volts. If that's the voltage you will be using, you will need a 60 amp circuit breaker.

Measure voltage between the brown, yellow, and orange wires. If they read above 400 volts, the generator is configured for 277/480 volts. If that's the case, if you read between each of those three wires and the large one laying in the bottom that is probably the neutral, you should read 250-300 volts depending on the voltage trim adjustment on the control panel.

The smaller wires that are cut are probably the 12V DC B+, Remote Start, & Ground wires that connected to the automatic transfer switch, as well as 120 volt wires for the engine block heater. You should find some of these wires terminating in the generator control panel. They will be on a terminal strip of the engine control board, and the terminals will be marked "B+, RMT, GND."

The factory wiring will be all white wires that have possibly been painted green. They will all be stranded wires. The field installed wiring will be different colors. Some of it may be stranded, and some may be a single solid conductor. Solid wiring is not good to use in generators, due to vibration. The solid wire can loosen on a terminal, or break off.

Measure voltage between the brown, yellow, and orange wires. If they read above 400 volts, the generator is configured for 277/480 volts. If that's the case, if you read between each of those three wires and the large one laying in the bottom that is probably the neutral, you should read 250-300 volts depending on the voltage trim adjustment on the control panel.

I believe that is what we were getting..

Will "hit the books".. Thanks you all for being such a great community. I hope to contribute back.